Conspiracy
by csiAngel
Summary: GC the team helps Catherine celebrate her birthday


A/N: This story is G/C, despite how it may appear at first.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to the show's producers, and CBS.  
Conspiracy  
  
"You didn't have to do this, Warrick," Cath said as he drove them towards the secret destination.  
  
"I know. But I wanted to. It's your birthday, you should celebrate."  
  
"Well, thank you," she smiled with appreciation and he smiled back. Then her smile changed to one of excitement, her eyes widened and sparkled, "So where are we going?"  
  
"You know it's a secret," Warrick said, laughing slightly as he watched her drop the smile and look at him with wide, pleading 'puppy-dog' eyes. "That won't work this time."  
  
She intensified her look. Warrick kept his eyes on the road and shook his head.  
  
"Please," she said, softly and childlike.  
  
"No," Warrick said simply, still not looking at her.  
  
"Look at me, Warrick," Cath teased.  
  
"I'm driving."  
  
"You know that you'll give in if you look at me," she said confidently.  
  
"I know that I'd probably crash if I look at you," Warrick laughed.  
  
"Convenient excuse," she joked. "Why is it such a big secret?"  
  
"Because it adds to the enjoyment. Now will you stop pestering me? You'll find out where we're going when we get there."  
  
"Sorry, Dad!" she laughed.  
  
"One more word and you will be!"  
  
Catherine gave him a look of pretend fear, then smiled and sat back to watch the world go by.  
  
Warrick smiled to himself. 'So far, so good' he thought.  
  
There was silence for maybe five minutes then Catherine suddenly turned to him, and she sounded serious, "Warrick -"  
  
He glanced at her, she looked concerned, almost panicked. "What is it?"  
  
"Are we nearly there yet?" she hadn't finished speaking when her dazzling smile crept across her face.  
  
Warrick rolled his eyes and looked back to the road. He couldn't help but smirk.  
  
****  
  
Over an hour later .  
  
"Seriously, Warrick, are we nearly there yet?" Catherine said with a sigh. They had been driving for almost two hours and her initial excitement was wearing thin.  
  
"Just around the corner. Be patient," Warrick said softly.  
  
The road curved to the left and, as they followed it, Catherine was startled by the sight in front of her. They pulled into the small gravel car park of "The Country House Hotel", and Warrick stopped the car. Catherine turned to him and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"A hotel, Warrick?. Erm. this IS quite a surprise."  
  
Warrick smiled, looking into her eyes. "There's more."  
  
He got out of the car and walked round to her side. Catherine started to feel a little anxious, as she wondered why they were here. She reprimanded herself for being silly. This was Warrick, what was she worried about?  
  
He opened the door for her and she stepped out of the Tahoe. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Relax! Would I plan anything unpleasant?" he said with what was intended to be a comforting smile. However his choice of words had not had the desired effect. The worst case scenario currently running through her mind would, she imagined, be far from unpleasant.  
  
She smiled slightly and followed him into the hotel, trying to shake those thoughts from her head.  
  
****  
  
Warrick had left her standing in the foyer and gone to speak to the desk clerk. Upon his return he saw that she was watching him, apprehensively.  
  
"Cath, I know what you're thinking," he said, with an amused smile, "We're here for dinner. I booked a room so it would be more private than being in a restaurant full of hungry tourists."  
  
"That's what I thought," Catherine replied, not attempting to conceal her relief.  
  
"Sure it is!" Warrick laughed.  
  
Catherine glared at him playfully. "So where's this room?"  
  
****  
  
Dinner arrived and they started to eat. At first they were silent. Periodically Warrick would glance at Catherine and each time he did that amused smile slowly reappeared on his face. She ignored him the first few times, introducing a topic of conversation to change the subject, but, after work, Lindsey and yesterday's television, she was out of diversions. So the next time, she had to fight back.  
  
"That wasn't what I was thinking," she lied.  
  
"Yes it was! I could tell from the look of terror on your face. No offence taken by the way!"  
  
"Well, so what if it was? It makes sense."  
  
"You thought I brought you here to seduce you, Cath!. Yeah, I see, perfect sense."  
  
"Warrick, look at me. Who wouldn't?" She flashed her most gorgeous smile and laughed when Warrick nearly choked on his last bite of food. "Never try to embarrass me, it'll always backfire," she grinned.  
  
Warrick sipped some water to calm himself down. Catherine couldn't stop giggling.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just-" she was stopped by her laughter. She composed herself a little then continued, "the look on your face. God, I wish I had a camera."  
  
"Why? Who are you gonna tell?"  
  
"Well, everyone. obviously!" she said.  
  
"To tell them about this you'd have to tell them about your misunderstanding," Warrick stated.  
  
"No, I wouldn't!" Catherine exclaimed. "But I suppose you would tell them in retaliation?"  
  
"Revenge is sweet!"  
  
"Only if it bothers me.. Tell whoever you want. Bearing in mind what I said about embarrassing me."  
  
"I'm not gonna win here, am I?" Warrick sighed.  
  
"Did you expect to?" she laughed.  
  
They continued eating, and occasionally giggling about the former topic, until Warrick checked his watch for the fourth time during the meal, and proceeded to stand.  
  
"If you'll excuse me, I have another surprise for you," he said walking towards the door. "Wait here." And with that he was gone, closing the door behind him.  
  
Catherine frowned. This certainly was an intriguing evening. She laughed to herself again as she remembered her earlier thoughts. Publicly, it wouldn't bother her, privately, she allowed herself to blush.  
  
Standing, she looked around the room. It was decorated very traditionally in homely, warm, autumnal colours. It had a genuine log fire, surrounded by a beautifully carved dark wood fireplace. She let her mind wander to thoughts of being curled up in front of the fire, on a cool march evening like this one, in the arms of the one you love. Heaven, she thought, pure heaven. She reined her thoughts in when she realised whose arms she was imagining herself lying in. She scolded herself and continued her admiration of the room.  
  
She moved to the window and looked out across the hotel's grounds. She was just watching a young couple enjoying an early evening stroll, when the door opened so she turned round.  
  
"Grissom?" she said, surprised.  
  
He was standing in the doorway, case in hand, and he looked as surprised as she was.  
  
"Catherine? I thought you had the night off for your birthday?"  
  
"I do," she said, more puzzled.  
  
"Then what are you doing here?" he frowned.  
  
"I was gonna ask you the same question."  
  
"I was called to this crime scene," he said, putting his case down and closing the door.  
  
"Crime scene?" Catherine said, looking around. "Does this look like a crime scene to you?" There was anger in her voice.  
  
"Don't have a go at me! I got a call from Brass telling me to come here. Suspected homicide, room forty-two."  
  
"Oh, come off it! Does the place look like it's in the middle of a homicide investigation?" she glared at him intensely as she spoke.  
  
"Well, Brass met me in the foyer, and I just talked to Warrick about the case on my way up here, and there's tape across the door to the room," he stated, rather smugly.  
  
Suddenly everything made sense to Catherine. "Warrick, Warrick, Warrick!" she said, shaking her head.  
  
"Are you gonna let me in on this?" Grissom asked after watching her piece together the puzzle.  
  
"We've been had, Gil.. Try the door."  
  
Grissom frowned but did as she asked. The door was locked. Catherine sighed and turned back to the window. "And we're on the third floor, so climbing out the window is out of the question."  
  
"They've gone to a lot of trouble," Grissom observed.  
  
"They're probably sick of the tension," she said, sounding somewhat exasperated herself.  
  
"They must be really sick of it, this place is expensive." Grissom's tone was friendly, in an attempt to establish a light mood for their conversation so they wouldn't end up in another argument. They had been arguing a lot lately, it was no surprise their co-workers had found it necessary to lock them in a room together.  
  
"Really?" Catherine said, turning to him with an evil twinkle in her eyes. "How expensive?"  
  
"Well, they can afford it. Providing they pull double shifts for the next month," Grissom said, matching her mischievous smile.  
  
"Oh, you're cruel!" Catherine grinned, "Champagne?"  
  
She walked to the table and picked up the room service menu.  
  
"I'm on duty," Grissom said.  
  
"I doubt it. They're not gonna be letting us out of here any time soon," Catherine commented walking over to the phone. "Do you fancy some profiteroles too? I fancy profiteroles."  
  
"I think the idea is for us to talk. Not eat, drink and be merry."  
  
"Well, I'd rather do the latter." She picked up the phone.  
  
"But we need to do the former," Grissom said seriously.  
  
"And we will. Over dessert," she smiled, dropping herself onto the bed. "yes. Room service please." She leaned against the headboard, carved in dark wood, to match the fireplace, and stretched her legs out in front of her. Grissom watched, slightly perplexed.  
  
"I would like the most expensive bottle of champagne you have, and a huge serving of profiteroles, please. Hmm. cream please.." She looked directly at Grissom and he was shocked by what he saw. There was a look in her eyes that he had never seen before. It was playful, it was passionate, it was fiery - he must have been imagining it.  
  
". yes, lots of cream. Room forty-two. Thank you." She hung up the phone and looked back to Grissom. "Do you even remember what we've been arguing about?" she laughed.  
  
"You don't appreciate me interfering in your life. You can take care of yourself. You know how to handle men like him -"  
  
"Okay! Apparently you do. I know you were just trying to protect me, and I do appreciate that. But I'm a big girl now, you have to let me go," she smiled, beautifully, as always.  
  
"I'm sorry, honey, but it's difficult, you're my baby girl," Grissom continued her scenario.  
  
"Oh, no. I know I started it, but let's not do the father-daughter thing. That's not how I want to think of you." She gave him that look again. His shock silenced him, and a look of pure fear came over his face. Catherine laughed inwardly at the affect she was having on him. Oh, she did enjoy teasing him.  
  
Grissom cleared his throat after a few minutes of staring at Catherine whilst trying to pretend he was not staring at Catherine. "So, are we. uhm .. okay? Am I forgiven?"  
  
"I forgave you moments after it happened, Gil. It's nice that you want to look after me. I couldn't be angry at you for long."  
  
"Then what have we been arguing for for the last month?" he said, confused.  
  
"Nothing," was all she said.  
  
"Nothing? We most certainly have not been arguing about nothing!" he was starting to get frustrated and she could hear it in his voice.  
  
She smiled to herself. "Oh, what have we been arguing about?" she said emphasising the last word. "Well, cases, evidence, your treatment of me, your treatment of the others, your wardrobe, your hair -"  
  
"Yes. I recall all of those things, but I thought you were picking fights with me about them because you were angry about what I did!" he almost raised his voice.  
  
Catherine's smiling broke free this time. "Gil, I was picking fights with you because I enjoy fighting with you."  
  
Grissom was once again stunned into silence. He didn't understand. And she didn't offer an explanation.  
  
"So how expensive is this place? One room for one night, what are we talking? A hundred dollars? Two?"  
  
Grissom didn't respond. She smirked and carried on, "I'm not surprised, actually. It must have cost a fortune to decorate, I mean have you looked at this headboard, the craftsmanship is exquisite, and it matches the fireplace. If all the rooms are like this then I think they're justified in charging so much."  
  
Grissom was still silent, and still standing where he had been the last time he spoke. Frozen to the spot. Catherine grinned proudly.  
  
"Hello? Earth to Grissom!!" She waved her hand in front of his face.  
  
He suddenly snapped out of it. "Cath, what?"  
  
"I said 'Earth to Grissom!' You were miles away!"  
  
"No. You enjoy fighting with me?" His face showed his complete confusion.  
  
Catherine just smiled and a playful look danced in her eyes. Grissom turned away.  
  
"You're just winding me up," he said, dismissing the thoughts he was having, only to have them come right back.  
  
"Am I?" she said seductively, standing and walking over to him. She stood behind him and put her hand on the top of his arm. She felt him jump, and he felt a shiver move through his arm and then round his whole body, as she touched him. "I enjoy arguing with you, because I hope one day the passion will be too much for you and you'll have to silence me." Her voice was low and reverberated through his mind. He managed to stop himself being enveloped by the atmosphere she was creating and step away.  
  
"Catherine -" he hadn't spoken anymore of his sentence before she had him pinned against the wall.  
  
"Don't deny it, Gil. I can see it in your eyes when we fight. Your desire. How you long to crash your lips and body into mine and expel all the tension we've built up in the last fifteen years. Why is it taking you so long? You've had plenty of opportunity recently." She was looking deep into him. He looked scared, but aroused. Her eyes were dark and inviting, he found himself speechless again, using all his energy to stop himself from pouncing on her.  
  
"Don't try to resist it. You know this is what we both want." She started to lean her face towards his, resting her hands on his waist. He felt his breathing deepen as her breath swept over his skin, he knew he should be stopping her, but he couldn't seem to move. As she moved her lips closer to his, unnoticed she slid her hand into his pocket and removed the small piece of metal that was concealed there. Her tone changed, but she still kept her face so close that their lips almost touched as she spoke. "Never conspire against me, it'll only backfire."  
  
She lingered for slightly longer than was necessary, and Grissom caught a look in her eyes that she was trying to hide, then she moved towards the door.  
  
"I know you too well, Gil. You should have pointed out that we couldn't have room service because we couldn't open the door." She slipped the key into the lock, and it fit perfectly. "Next time you want to have me locked in a room with you, plan more carefully."  
  
She opened the door only to have it slam shut again as Grissom backed her against it. Her previous feeling of control was gone. She hated that he could just take it from her so easily. Her heart rate quickened, and her breathing deepened as she awaited his next move.  
  
"Next time you pretend to seduce me, don't enjoy it so much," he said with a satisfied grin.  
  
"I don't think I was the one enjoying it," she said trying to recreate her earlier confidence, but her voice was shaking with the feelings stirring within her at his proximity.  
  
"Well, I most certainly wasn't," Grissom said keeping his eyes locked with hers.  
  
"Then we're both agreed. It wasn't fun. So why don't we just go home."  
  
He was silent again. He raised his hand and slowly ran two fingers gently down her cheek. Catherine trembled.  
  
"At two hundred dollars a night, it would be a shame to waste the room." He let his fingers continue down her neck, causing goose pimples all over her body. She let out a short contented sigh.  
  
"You had better not be winding me up, Gil," she said sternly, tilting her head to allow the access of his lips that he had moved towards her neck.  
  
"I think I'm going a bit far, if I am," he said in between planting small kisses down her neck, to her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, but I know how much you dislike being outsmarted by me." She said, closing her eyes and relaxing into the softness of his lips against her skin.  
  
He looked up at her. She opened her eyes.  
  
"Catherine, do you want this or not?"  
  
"Only if you do."  
  
"Oh, I do. It doesn't take an argument to make me want you, Cath. I have loved you since the day I met you."  
  
"Now that is low!" she exclaimed pulling away from him.  
  
Grissom was genuinely shocked, once more. "What?"  
  
"Love? Grissom, how could you say that?" she snapped.  
  
"Because it's true."  
  
"You had me fooled for a second. Don't you dare tell anyone what happened here!"  
  
"Cath -"  
  
"I mean it, Gil. I get one snigger from any of the others, and you'll wish you were never born!"  
  
"This was not the response I expected."  
  
"Drop it! I'm going home to spend my birthday with the one person who didn't have any part in this . torture!"  
  
Before she could open the door, his lips collided with hers and she fell into his embrace.  
  
"Is that what you meant?" he said smiling, lovingly.  
  
"Everything I said before was just an act. I didn't mean any of it." She said, winking to him, flirtatiously.  
  
"Of course you didn't," he muttered, returning his lips to her neck. As he covered it with kisses he moved his hands to the top button on her blouse. He felt her breathing become more intense.  
  
"We probably shouldn't do this," she said, making no attempt to stop him from undoing the button.  
  
"Probably," he said, spreading his kisses further as he kissed the newly revealed flesh of her chest, and starting to move her towards the bed.  
  
"It'll make things awkward at work," she said, willingly moving, and leaning her head back in enjoyment as he kissed the top of her breasts as they became exposed.  
  
"Quite possibly," were the words from his lips before they began to explore around the region now uncovered, whilst his hands slid the blouse from her arms, and moved round to work on her bra.  
  
"Our friendship'll never be the same," she commented, impressed at the ease with which he unhooked the clasp.  
  
"Well, no great loss," he joked, keeping his tone the same as before, and throwing her bra to the ground.  
  
They reached the bed and he lay her down. Crawling on top of her he stroked her bare skin, running his hand from her navel, cupping and massaging a breast as he passed it, before gently caressing the side of her face. "What we will have after this will be better," he said, reassuringly.  
  
"Are you sure?" she smiled.  
  
"Pretty sure. Do you want to find out?" he asked, willing to accept whatever answer she gave, but hoping she wasn't going to respond negatively.  
  
She grinned. "Only if you do."  
  
Understanding the grin, he obeyed. "Oh I do. It doesn't take an argument to make me want you, Cath. I have loved you since the day I met you."  
  
Kissing him passionately, she started to remove his shirt. "Well, just before you show me how much, could you lock the door? We don't want to be interrupted unexpectedly."  
  
"Oh, we won't be." Grissom said, unfastening her trousers.  
  
"I ordered room service, Gil."  
  
"But they won't bring it. I knew you'd figure out what was going on, I have to pay for this, I wasn't gonna have you ordering all sorts of things as punishment for the conspiracy."  
  
"That's a shame," she said, as she kissed his, now bare, chest, "That cream could have been fun."  
  
"There's plenty of time for that later, right now, I can't wait." He met her lips with his again and ran his hands all over her body.  
  
"Gil, I can't stay all night, Lindsey -"  
  
"..Is staying at her friends. It's all arranged, Cath. Everyone was in on it."  
  
"Did you tell them all what you had planned?" she asked, her turn to be shocked.  
  
"No. I told them I wanted to do something nice for your birthday. They thought it was sweet."  
  
"I'd forgotten it was my birthday," Catherine said.  
  
"Well stop talking, and I'll make sure you'll never forget it again," he laughed, silencing her once again.  
  
THE END 


End file.
